tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post4117301529232818776..comments2024-03-27T00:32:29.877-07:00Comments on Photos and Stuff: The Thing Itselfamolitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15743439184763617516noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-48921701478646433882016-08-10T07:32:34.556-07:002016-08-10T07:32:34.556-07:00Thank you! I may or may not have read it in the pa...Thank you! I may or may not have read it in the past, but I certainly don't recall it! It does resonate, however, and I think everyone should read it.amolitorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15743439184763617516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-63499578196343187002016-08-10T05:01:30.364-07:002016-08-10T05:01:30.364-07:00If you don't already know it, you might be int...If you don't already know it, you might be interested in Bill Jay's "The Thing Itself": <a href="http://www.billjayonphotography.com/The%20Thing%20Itself.pdf" rel="nofollow"><br />http://www.billjayonphotography.com/The%20Thing%20Itself.pdf</a><br />Jamesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-67146387747296544492016-08-10T02:08:53.402-07:002016-08-10T02:08:53.402-07:00My comment was intended to be ironic. Mainly I was...My comment was intended to be ironic. Mainly I was having a gentle dig at AM, but I have to say I also hold no candle for the Bechers, whose work I find dull, and, given their fame, unfathomable. I say this as someone who enjoys industrial architecture of a certain age. In the 70s I went round photographing abandoned rural railway stations for submission to an industrial archaeology data base, so I see the attraction, but not the art. But then I don't get a buzz from the Düsseldorf School as a whole.<br /><br />My take is that Andrew is right to emphasise the importance of emotion in the making and viewing of photographs, but I really don’t know what qualifies as emotion in this context. I think one might as well call it ‘involvement’. I used the word ‘frisson’ in an earlier comment, as this involuntary response to a stimulus is at least physical. What I feel more sure of is that emotion and form(alism) are not alternatives, They really don’t have much to do with each other at all.erickehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01409165571476557979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-24220893585208151302016-08-10T02:03:50.427-07:002016-08-10T02:03:50.427-07:00One genre where the "thing itself" is th...One genre where the "thing itself" is the main interest and which is very popular on photo sites are portraits of young female models. In that genre, dynamic range, composition, color or heavy post-processing are not really necessary...<br /><br />I am just citing that photographic sub-genre, because I am a bit surprised that you did not mention it considering how popular it is. Apart from that, I agree with your post, of course.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-22608778077257018752016-08-09T21:19:29.182-07:002016-08-09T21:19:29.182-07:00I agree. Neither was I trying to interpret ericke....I agree. Neither was I trying to interpret ericke. <br />Indeed I would like to know if it was tongue in cheek. <br />To be honest when I read your previous post, the Bechers came to mind also, so perhaps ericke and I are on a similar thought train. <br />😃<br /><br />Williehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12340234422334227647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-12604923750917002522016-08-09T16:38:03.597-07:002016-08-09T16:38:03.597-07:00I don't presume to interpret ericke, although ...I don't presume to interpret ericke, although perhaps he'll weigh in himself!<br /><br />I found it useful, though, since my remarks could have been read as "the interpretation is all, the subject is irrelevant" (although I don't think that's what I meant - I think my meaning wasn't that detailed or refined, to be honest) - and the Bechers offer a solid refutation of that viewpoint.<br /><br />Hence this post, about balance!<br /><br />I think emotional connection has to begin with the subject, there isn't really anything else to hang it on, in a photo!<br />amolitorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15743439184763617516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-87209748202269112952016-08-09T15:31:38.420-07:002016-08-09T15:31:38.420-07:00I to noticed the comment on the last post concerni...I to noticed the comment on the last post concerning the Bechers.<br />I wasn't totally sure if the writer was tongue in cheek or actually serious.<br /><br />I also had a look through my copy Walker Evans' American Photographs' which contains a few images which would not look out of place in a Becher collection (given some artistic license there).<br /><br />Surely the thing in and of itself does have some import, and therefore those who present it (the import) ought not to be dismissed out of hand. Perhaps the commenter was tongue in cheek.<br />If not, was the point of your previous post missed by this person?<br /><br />If there is some emotional connection with images that are four square, head on literal depictions (as far as any optical/mechanical device can make a literal depiction), then is that not as valid as any other interpretation.<br /><br />Indeed, in some cases one could perhaps argue that there may be more validity in it, to say nothing of potential historic value - as in Agtet's old Paris photography. Although of a documentary style, it was collected under the name "TheArt of Old Paris' and still stands as both Art and historical document.<br />Williehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12340234422334227647noreply@blogger.com